Research Portfolio

Genetics, Cognition, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Joey W. Trampush, Ph.D.

Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences

USC Keck School of Medicine

February 4, 2025

Hello …

Research Focus Areas

Core Research Domains

  • Neuropsychology
  • Child, Adolescent, and Adult ADHD Diagnosis & Treatment
  • Psychiatric Genetics
  • Cognitive Genomics
  • Neurodevelopment

Methodological Expertise

  • Genome-wide Association Studies (GWAS)
  • Systematic Reviews
  • Clinical Guidelines Development
  • Neuropsychological Assessment
  • Data Science
  • Language Learning Models (LLMs)

RDoC Cognitive Systems GWAS (R03 MH123787)

Project Goals:

  • Investigate latent molecular genetic architecture of working memory
  • Use existing COGENT consortium data
  • Identify genome-wide allelic variation
  • Focus on causal, not just correlational relationships

Early Development & Brain Function (R01 DK110793)

Collaboration with CHLA

Research Focus:

  • Impact of early feeding practices
  • Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs)
  • Effects on obesity development
  • Brain development trajectories
  • Longitudinal design
  • Multi-modal assessment
  • Developmental outcomes
  • Clinical implications

AHRQ Adult ADHD Review Project (75Q80120D00009)

Co-funded by the FDA

  • Focus on diagnosis and treatment
  • Evidence-based guidelines
  • Treatment recommendations
  • Child & adolescent ADHD project completed last year

CAR-T Cell Therapy & Neurotoxicity

R01 Collaboration with CHLA

Project Overview

ICANS Research Study:

  • Investigating neurotoxicity in CAR-T therapy
  • 80 pediatric ALL patients (5-21 years)
  • Longitudinal assessment design
  • Multi-modal brain & immune measures

Hippocampal Stimulation & Memory

Predicting Surgical Outcomes

  • PI: Brian Lee, MD, PhD

Study Overview

Three key questions:

  1. WHERE to stimulate in hippocampus?
  2. WHEN during memory tasks?
  3. HOW (stimulation parameters)?

Data Science

Focus on reproducible research

  • R, some Python
  • Quarto, Typst

GitHub Repos

Large-Scale Biobank Data

  • UK Biobank
  • ABCD Study
  • 23andMe
  • Many others

Language Learning Models (LLM)

Application to Neuropsychological Evaluation

Developing LLM to process neurocognitive and behavioral data from evaluations that otherwise take several hours.

  • Summarization using Chain of Density

Integration & Clinical Impact

How these projects work together:

  1. Genetic architecture → Treatment targets
  2. Early development → Prevention strategies
  3. Clinical guidelines → Evidence-based care
  4. Translational potential → Improved outcomes

Future Directions

Research Goals:

  • Expand genetic findings
  • Identify biomarkers
  • Develop interventions
  • Improve diagnostics

Clinical Applications:

  • Personalized medicine
  • Early intervention
  • Treatment optimization
  • Outcome prediction

Thank you!!